2001 Honda Accord- Having trouble with air not cooling right. Manual suggest the shutter door is not working properly. Does anyone know how to get to this or where it is at. There are no specifics in the manual on how to do this and it is getting HOT out. Need an answer ASAP!

 

Had a '01 EX that wasn't cooling as it should. Some possibilities to check out regarding poor A/C performance. Long list, but I think this is the way to go.

1.] Open hood with engine running & A/C set on high cooling. Look at two fans attached to the radiator. One on passenger side is fan for A/C system. Punch A/C switch off for a minute or so, then punch back on. If passenger side fan doesn't come on, must be replaced. Very $$$, unless you can find one at a recycling center.

2.] After doing #1, you can check for vacuum leaks. Heating & A/C vent doors are controlled by engine vacuum pressure. Should have vacuum line diagram on interior part of hood. Can visually check for leaks/cracks in vacuum lines going to HA/C unit through rear firewall. Might also be able to hear whistling/hissing sound in area between engine & firewall. Might need new vacuum line +/or plastic tee connections. Buying, cutting & replacing vacuum lines not very high tech. Just do one at a time

3.] Ever change the interior cabin air filter? Found this site: http://www.troublecodes.net/articles/cabinair.shtml. Whole lot of things to take apart to get to filter. Not at all as easy as a CR-V. Had a ton of junk, mostly leaf bits & pieces to clean out after removing filter. Replaced with 2 new filters & reassembled. Such a difference! Thought I had purchased a new A/C system!

4.] With passenger side dashboard partially disassembled after doing #3 above, see if you can manually move HA/C doors. If they move freely, problem lies elsewhere.

 

i have Honda accord 2000.

my A/C seem to work on #2 fan mode, i can feel cool air.
I can hear some hizz sound that something is functioning . when i turn on the A/C

When i switch the fan to #3 or #4 mode..no cooling

I was wondering what could be problem, do i need more A/C refrigerant to top up or would there be any leaks


some troubleshooting help would be helpful


by the way what is HA/C doors? mentioned in point #4

4.] With passenger side dashboard partially disassembled after doing #3 above, see if you can manually move HA/C doors.

 

The black ductwork inside your dashboard contains the heat core & the A/C evaporator side by side in boxes, separated by an insulated plastic wall. When you turn on the fan, air is forced through both boxes. There is a door just past both of these boxes that permits the cabin air to flow through either one of these hot / cold boxes. When you switch your heater on high, the door moves to close the cold box, allowing all the cabin air to go through the heater core thus heating your car. For full A/C mode, the opposite occurs - the hot box is closed off while all the air goes through the cold box.

When you look at the black ductwork, you should see a small lever coming through the top/side of the ductwork. That lever controls the door movement. See if you can jiggle the lever & see how much play you have. It might be that the door won't completely close out the flow of hot air from the heater core while running the A/C.

Again, go back & do #1-3 first. If none of these are in error, you will need a professional to do a check on your charging system. It may turn out that all you need is just a shot of refrigerant. You might also have a plugged/contaminated orifice just at your evaporator core. The pro will have the gauges & tools necessary to determine that. If you try to add refrigerant by yourself, you might add too much into the system & blow all your seals & connections. That would be a very expensive mistake to learn & to correct.